Maria-sama ga Miteru 3rd

Maria-sama ga Miteru OVA (a.k.a. the third season) is a sequel that doesn't disappoint. The quality of the animation is indisputably superior to its two predecessors, while the flavour of these five (fifty-minute) episodes is largely similar. This time, however, we get to see the characters in casual wear a lot more and in various settings outside of school, which is quite refreshing.

The seiyuu offer a good, consistent performance, so no complaints on that front. The ending theme songs, however, are rather at odds with the general tone of the series. The first ED passably complemented the series, but the second ... one was too upbeat. Don't skip out when the credits roll in the later episodes like I did at first, though, as it comprises absolutely gorgeous artwork.

Maria-sama ga Miteru OVA also explores different relationships that weren't previously addressed, in addition to delving into existing ones at greater length. A few characters that we haven't seen in a while are brought back (some only momentarily) and there's at least one character introduced that we haven't met properly yet.

For some reason, in the OVAs they've stopped the tradition of using tongue-in-cheek humour for the episode previews, and it's vaguely disappointing in that regard. (The DVD specials are as funny as ever though, but that's another kettle of fish.)

There were some cheesy-- but heartwarming-- moments, and it's getting increasingly to the point where the f/f subtext can't be called subtext anymore. To be sure, little is of the "in your face" sort. Some appreciate such things expressed forthright, but it is not in line with Maria-sama ga Miteru OVA's style.

So in that sense this series might not be such a good choice for these people, but I think after watching the first and second seasons, we should all know what to expect. If you haven't started liking Maria-sama ga Miteru as a whole after two seasons, it's unlikely to change in the third. With that in mind, I can only say that Maria-sama ga Miteru OVA was above and beyond what I expected.

The third "season" of Maria-sama ga Miteru, although it being titled an OVA, the episodes are like two ordinary 22 minute episode making the season somewhat close to 10 episodes. This creates more enjoyment out of the episodes and a better flow in the storyline.
Since I came in on that track the stories told are of a various mixture, some connected to the catholic school the girls attend to and some where they aren't at school at all but enjoy other activities. This is an interesting twist because we get to see them in "casual day" appearance and what they do when they are not ... at school.
As always the animation in my opinion is high class, although the pointy noses can get a tad annoying when they sort of "stick out" of the anime at times.
The sound and music is better than it has ever been! Ranging from borrowed work to where the characters them selves sing. This is a real treat and it warms me inside. The only thing musicwise is the ending song, which in my opinion doesn't befit the anime at all, but you can always skip it, right?
So overall this third season was pretty much more than enough of what I had hoped for. Be sure to watch the very end of the last episode after the credits, for a pleasant and joyful surprise!

i have watched this anime for 9 times now and still watching it : )

i liked the relationship between yumi and sachiko became deeper and deeper, at first two series they cant say what they really think with each other but with this anime, everything yumi wants to do with sachiko is taking place in reality, and she became free to express her feelings to sachiko even in letter. whats was good in this world is to express to the one you love that you love them.

this is not a typical lesbian story, because there is no lesbian thing in it. the fact that ... you became close to someone and learned to love them doesnt mean that you have sexual feeling towards that person. this anime expresses deep love between friends and even experience hardships, triumph and fulfillment to get through the day being happy with the person that matches the feelings you have for them as they have for you.

What a season! It's only five episodes, but they are essentially double length at about 50 minutes each. With the characters firmly established after two seasons, season three veers away from high school daily life to put the girls in some exciting settings: summer vacation, a boy's school festival, sports fest and... Italy?

It's an exciting season because of all of the fun settings, even if they are somewhat typical high school drama fare. All are fun and original and really represent the payoff of the ever-so-slightly slow first two seasons: now we get to see go on exciting adventures with these characters we've come to ... like so much.

Perhaps even more satisfyingly, the central relationship of the series finally develops quite a bit, in what I found to be a satisfying way. There is not a great deal of character development with any of the other couples, they are increasingly just becoming Yumi's sidekicks. Perhaps there was just not enough time, given the reduced length of this season. It's the only real blemish on the storytelling for me though.

I enjoyed the continued slow and deliberate character development that goes hand in hand with the relentless passage of time as we're more than half way though Yumi's high school career now. There is definite foreshadowing to the inevitable departure of the older Sachiko, and the way it's being handled is quite nice. Not melodramatic, just realistically bittersweet.

The art was unremarkable except for the final episode where they go to Italy. Again I found the music to be disappointing - there is a poppier but not memorable ending theme, and a chance for a character so sing a beautiful song in Italy seemed like a total dud to me. Thankfully the story is awfully strong and more than makes up for these disappointments.

This may have been a bit of a bridge to the final season, but it has set the stage nicely, especially with the attention to Yumi and Sachiko's relationship.

It takes a bit to get used to, art-wise, because now the characters come close to how characters are drawn in the latest animes. Especially in the first episode, I thought they almost ruined Sachiko in some angles, but either I got used to how they drew her, or they actually realized that they fucked up, and fixed it eventually as the episodes went on.

At first, I almost got disappointed that I only got 5 episodes, but it was more than enough, really, since they were almost an hour-long. And with how episodes were like part 1 and 2 for some events in the previous ... seasons, it opens and closes the "act" nicely in each episode. So, if you are the type to watch one episode per night, it will work without having to stay up a bit late.

It's nice that they are now in casual clothes, and we get to see what they are actually up to during their break/vacation. In the previous seasons, we just usually skipped over their break entirely, and you are left like "Woah, that was fast."

A lot of people consider this season to be the best out of all and I have to agree to some extend.

Why? First of all the animation became much better and the colours are much brighter.

Secondly we see characters in different surrounding and doing different things, they are not stuck in school anymore. The first episode shows us Sachiko's summer house and how she and Yumi are spending their summer. Also a lot of festivals were happening such as for example sport events what was very refreshing to watch after seeing them always studying and doing stuff meetings. This season also had more humor ... in it and had foreshadowed some of the upcoming events in season 4 what wasn't done in previouse two, at least not to such extend.

If you are a Sachiko/Yumi fan, then you definetly will love this season since it gives more depth to their relationship in comparison to 1st and 2nd season where things mostly went in circle. Here we actually can see the connection between them and how much they care for each other.

Also new characters make their appearance and are given a chance to shine a bit a long with older ones.

So if you liked the series, then it is a must.

The first two seasons of Maria Watches Over Is felt too similar to each other, and thus, made me wonder if they were going to change up the formula a bit. Maria Watches Over Us 3rd proved that it's got more to give though! It's got some very strong character developments that really does carry this OVA season. I'll assume you've seen both prequels for the purposes of this review.

Story & Characters: Maria Watches Over Us 3rd is a five-episode OVA, which splits time with our crew in five different settings. The locations vary from each other and it already gives ... this series somewhat of a different feel as the previous seasons. Basically, our characters go on a variety of different trips, which allow them to bond with each other. The setup is there, right in front of us. The first episode sees Sachiko invite Yumi to her summer home that her family owns, where a few of the former's acquaintances don't quite approve of Yumi, even as a friend. The second is likely the weakest of the bunch where the academy has a school festival and Yumi wants to find out why Sachiko can't get along with the male population. The third has a first year student, Kanako, obsessing over Yumi, going so far as to stalk her around whenever they're both on campus. The fourth has us watching the academy taking part in an athletic festival with students trying to figure out which event they want to participate in. The final episode sees the second year students taking a school trip to Italy. During the course of this OVA, we see our characters get closer to each other and develop further.

The obvious couple we're watching are Yumi and Sachiko, who get some of the best interactions we've seen since the very beginning of the three seasons. They get closer to each other, and even express some worry when they are apart for longer than a brief time. You love that they're 'finally' finding their feelings for each other because those were pretty subtle in previous seasons, outside of the end of last season. Sachiko is the one that really evolves as a person here because she expresses so many different personalities. She stands up for Yumi, always expresses worry for her and just acts as a thoughtful person in general, something we saw very little of in the previous two seasons. The first episode really highlights all of this and ends off really well after Yumi's trip in the finale. Yumi feels like a more evolved character because she's way more self-aware and doesn't really try and push too many boundaries. She's a really caring person and meshes well with her classmates, further pushing her strong personality that already existed in previous seasons. Yoshino also gets ample screen time she becomes more and more like that best friend of Yumi's, that we all wish we had in high school.

Some more minor characters pop in here and there, and some add more to the series than others. Rei gets some screen time, but she kind of feels tossed in here. Similarly, while she gets more screen time than the others, Shimako's somewhat bland, though is still thoughtful of others. I didn't feel like either added much. Kanako is decently interesting in the one episode that she's in and I actually liked what she added here, as it further showed how her interactions with Yumi and later on, Sachiko, show how the couple are there for each other and don't waver much.

The storyline of the five episodes themselves don't really feel like a continuation of each other, due to the nature of the series. It can make the series feel somewhat disconnected from episode to episode. Results may vary from person to person, but for me, this is probably the weakest part of the season, even though the main goal is likely to develop it's characters anyway. This season's storytelling is miles better than that of the previous seasons. (Story: 9/10, Characters: 7/10)

Art: This is definitely a step up from previous series. Everything just looks crisper. You still get some weird occurrences of longer limbs than what looks natural on taller characters like Sachiko, but the rest looks up to par. (8/10)

Sound: The OST remains mostly the same as previous season with a mix of classical sounding music and the odd more modern tune. I wasn't the biggest fan of either the OP or ED though. The voice cast was mostly fine, though Mamiko Noto's (Shimako) voice was starting to grind on me as the series went on. It just didn't sound like a natural tone at all. (7/10)

Overall Enjoyment: After two average seasons, I felt like Maria Watches Over Us 3rd really took a step forward with this OVA season. Character interactions are so much more moving, Sachiko's made into a much better character and we can see the character development throughout with decent storylines. If previous seasons appealed to you, then this is likely a must-watch for you. If you were on the fence like I was, then give the first episode a try and keep going if that's enough to hook you in. Worked for me! (8/10)

Alright, pit-stop time again. This OVA is a pretty simply continuation of the story. As for why it's structured this way, I can't say why this is five 50 minute OVA episodes for certain, but I also feel like it would have struggled to quite stretch itself to a full season of TV, so maybe that's the reason. That aside, there isn't much complex to comment on. Even with the slightly different format, it's the same show I've been watching for the last two seasons, pushing the story forward gently but comprehensively. There are definitely some clear plot lines set up for the 4th season, ... and the general momentum of the characters and their relationships feels consistent.

A particular improvement is definitely animation; there were clearly a few years between season 2 and this, and the evolution shows; not just in the fact that it's widescreen and HD, but just the fact that the artwork is a lot cleaner and the animation solidly better. Studio Deen are still far from the best studio out there, but it's definitely cleaner (although, despite it being a criticism I levelled at the first two seasons, I can't say I didn't miss that rougher, older-looking style a little at first).

But, ultimately, what we get here are five long and fairly self-contained stories, that keep the momentum of the story going. Honestly, these reviews are more to track my experience as I go; if you're reading this review, you're probably already far enough in this show to make your own judgement. I'm still enjoying it a lot, and I'm looking forward to pushing forward through the final season. See you in a couple of weeks for that.